Crossrail

Since 2000, we have been closely involved with the site selection, stakeholder consultation and design development of more than eight ventilation shafts for the £16bn London-wide Crossrail project. These projects have been architecturally evolved from Design Inception to Final Reference Design with global multi-disciplinary consultancies including Mott Macdonald and Halcrow.

Crossrail's shafts are required for operational purposes such as ventilation and emergency escape and provide access at kilometre intervals along the part of the tunnel system that travels below ground.

The above ground 'headhouses' emerge in many varied urban and parkland sites across east London. This means they may be located in public parks, urban streets or within the footprint of acquired buildings. This diversity of locations has required us to provide varied solutions and designs for a range of additional development including:

• Hanbury Street, Tower Hamlets, London E1: Higher density mixed use urban development incorporating the headhouse & vent outlet.
• Stepney Green, Tower Hamlets, London E1: Integration with park landscaping by providing community 'playscape' as part of the approved scheme.
• Eleanor Street, Bow, Tower Hamlets, London E1: Project incorporation of sustainable Gypsy travellers residential development with ventilation infrastructure.
• Lowell Street, Tower Hamlets, London E14: Stand alone landmark headhouse structures inspired by local industrial heritage.

Our work on these projects included extensive co-ordination and management of the interface between engineering and architecture. We were also closely involved in the often challenging wider consultation and public engagement processes and assisted the client and design team to navigate through with good design and attention to detail.